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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
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 Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:18 pm Post subject: The case for an IR&D facility . . . |
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At 04:52 PM 1/29/2007 -0600, you wrote:
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Bob, when I was managing a software company that was moving into a new
building, we designed in 2 unusual rooms:
1. A complete laundry room with a washer, dryer, sink, ironing board,
hooks, cabinets, hangers, etc.
2. A children's play room, complete with miscellaneous toys
The theory was that we had a bunch of brilliant programmers who enjoyed
coding, and if they had time on a Saturday afternoon to do their laundry
but could also do some coding while they were waiting for the washer or
the dryer, they would come to the office to do it. If they had kids, they
would bring them to the office to play while they did some playing of
their own on the computer. This was back in the days when few people
could yet afford a personal computer at home.
I personally thought it was brilliant, and it worked like a charm. Right
up to the time the management of the company was swapped out for some bean
counters who were more concerned with whether little Johnny would hurt
himself in the play room. Soon thereafter the company's doors were locked
at 17:01 every day, nobody came in on weekends, the brilliant team of
programmers dissolved, and I don't work there any more either.
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Shucky darn! I thought I had an original thought here.
Seriously though, thank you for the anecdote. I'll add it to
my white paper. I hadn't thought about the expanded support
for family matters. Good concept. For those on the List who
are interested in such things download this .mp3 file at:
http://www.aeroelectric.com/Elings/Look_at_the_Big_Picture.mp3
This guy Elings is a modern day Edison, Kettering, King,
Collins, etc. I work with folks who remember when Art
Collins . . .
http://www.collinsclubs.com/history/
. . . maintained an "open stockroom". If anyone needed some
parts for a personal endeavor, have at it. Don't run the
bin so low that it puts production at risk . . . if the
bin looks low, get some more ordered.
Same with Ed King . . .
http://mcguinn1342.blogspot.com/2006/01/ed-king-story.html
I have what I believe was the tenth King KY-90 transceiver
that I found at OSH in '86.
http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Radios/P1012762.JPG
http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Radios/P1012763.JPG
It's s/n 110 and someone told me years ago that Ed
started with #101. I'd like to believe that Ed may
have personally touched this one before it left his
fledgling operation in Olathe, Ks about the time
I was graduating from high school!
Same with Electromech where I worked in the 70's.
Dr. Elings speaks of the open stockroom at Hewlett-Packard
and at his fledgling company Digital Instruments.
Smart managers understand that if you expect your
creative folks to be really good at their jobs, they
need to be exceedingly familiar with the ingredients
that feed into recipes for success. Familiarity can come
in ANY endeavor.
At Beech we used to have at least 4 separate labs with
equipment, parts, and support staff. We had the first
multi-layer, plated-through hole ECB shop in the midwest.
All that has slowly been eliminated with the notion that
we (1) need to have documented tracking of all inventory
and how it's expended and (2) don't do anything in house
you can do out of house.
The net result was predictable. Just as your byte-thrashers
found other places to expand their horizons, our most prized
carriers of "the disease" were spread out over the square
mile in various project groups. The vast majority have
retired. I'm amongst perhaps a dozen of the old guard
that are left.
However, from the attendees of my lunchtime learning
sessions at H-B and Saturday morning mini-seminars at WSU,
I've identified some promising young bucks who show distinct
symptoms of "the disease".
My efforts at Hawker-Beech are to rebuild the IR&D facility
with even loftier goals. I've told our chief scientist
that I want to spend my last years at H-B teaching. This
would include troubleshooting problem aircraft . . . but
with a budget that allows me to have at least one of the
youngsters working right beside me. I suspect the chances
of making it happen at my day-job are less than 50% . . .
but I have plan-B.
A good friend of mine is building a new production facility
just two miles from H-B and right across the street from the
new Aviation Technical Center being planned for Jabara Airport.
The ideas behind having an IR&D facility were not lost on him.
At lunch a few months ago, his eyes lit up and he offered
to "sponsor" my IR&D facility if it didn't spool up at
H-B. He realized that the expense of supporting a facility
was trivial and would attract a cadre of individuals he'd
love to have on staff but could not justify full time salaries.
However, by having them regularly hang around HIS facility, he
would have access to their talents on an as-needed basis.
Smart man!
One way or another, my activities in aviation are going
to get out of the certification business and concentrate
on teaching and new development. I've already had some
conversation with folks who are running the new
ATC across the street from my buddy's proposed factory.
They're excited about supporting and exploiting the
sunk-werks. I might teach part time for them as well. What
ever I end up doing is going to be fun . . . or I'm not going
to do it.
Bob . . .
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echristley(at)nc.rr.com
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:29 am Post subject: The case for an IR&D facility . . . |
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Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote:
| Quote: |
Smart managers understand that if you expect your
creative folks to be really good at their jobs, they
need to be exceedingly familiar with the ingredients
that feed into recipes for success. Familiarity can come
in ANY endeavor.
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Don't go chasing windmills, Bob. Today's 'smart managers' (or at least
the ones in control who think they are) believe the smart people
shouldn't be working for the company. They should be off creating
start-ups. The company will buy the start-up once it has produced a
successful product. This avoids that whole messy issue of having to
understand the business you're in or what it is you're making. That
stuff doesn't fit easily on a spreadsheet or in a slide show, you know.
Much better to have expensive lunches wheeling and dealing, where you
talk about people as interchangeable 'resources', whether they be a
seasoned engineer or a Chinese subsistance farmer.
--
,|"|"|, Ernest Christley |
----===<{{(oQo)}}>===---- Dyke Delta Builder |
o| d |o http://ernest.isa-geek.org |
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pilot4pay
Joined: 01 Jan 2007
Posts: 171
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:24 am Post subject: The case for an IR&D facility . . . |
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Bob, I wish I had been there at Great Lakes when you were teaching. While
your insights into the world of techno-junkies is spot-on, the current crop
of managers have no clue. Unfortunately, today's technical managers as
stated by a previous poster come not from engineering backgrounds, but
accounting schools.
In addition to the bean counters not seeing the forest for the trees, there
are political forces at work in the manufacturing communities that mimic
"not invented here" mentality. If the ideas didn't come from some bean
counters focus group it will be beaten down and stomped on, as the budgets
are controlled by the bean counters. Then there's professional jealousy..
I was given the task of designing in some error proofing to some automation.
I found the best point in the production process to check it and remedy a
dropped step. It functioned perfectly. I tried every way to get it to fail,
and it stood up to testing. Every night as part of my start up, I would test
the error checking function.
Enter crack addict day shift electrician (union shop, can't fire 'em).
Something new in his area he didn't have a say in. Now any time the machine
went down, my error checking was to blame. To make matters worse, the
"controls engineer" who should have know better, played along, as it would
have been work for him to check out the story. So after I get beat up in the
office for 45 minutes of downtime, I ask the engineer, "if error checking
had you down, all you had to do is force an input in the PLC and you're
running in 30 seconds, why didn't you do that?" all he could do was stare at
me blankly and shrug. (problem actually came from part sensing not related
to the error checking, weld flash burr in a locating pin hole) I removed the
modifications and programming that night, and I will NEVER offer my
engineering abilities or ideas for improvements to my employer again.
I don't know if this is only a characteristic of just BIG companies, or the
auto industry in general, but I never experienced this in my career up until
my entry into the auto manufacturing arena. Innovation is spurned by the
politically connected. I've got tons of ideas, but won't waste them there.
Best of luck convincing the counters to nurture creative minds, but if you
weren't Bob Nuckolls, I'd call you Don Quixote!
Craig Smith
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_________________
Craig Smith
CH640 builder
SN: 0078
"Just think how stupid the average person is,
and then realize that half of them are even stupider!"
--George Carlin |
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nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:32 pm Post subject: The case for an IR&D facility . . . |
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At 11:21 AM 1/31/2007 -0500, you wrote:
| Quote: |
<pilot4profit(at)sbcglobal.net>
Bob, I wish I had been there at Great Lakes when you were teaching. While
your insights into the world of techno-junkies is spot-on, the current crop
of managers have no clue. Unfortunately, today's technical managers as
stated by a previous poster come not from engineering backgrounds, but
accounting schools.
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| Quote: | In addition to the bean counters not seeing the forest for the trees, there
are political forces at work in the manufacturing communities that mimic
"not invented here" mentality.
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<snip>
. . . I've got tons of ideas, but won't waste them there.
| Quote: | Best of luck convincing the counters to nurture creative minds, but if you
weren't Bob Nuckolls, I'd call you Don Quixote!
|
While we could debate perceptions of cause-effect for your
experiences, there's no arguing with the realities of what
you went through. I'll agree that there's a whole lot of
politics and kingdom-building that goes on in the trenches
that most CEO's would be appalled to discover. I've worked
in the trenches my whole career and avoided any invitations
to move up the ladder because it would tend to isolate me
from getting my hands dirty.
My best hope for the current effort is that I have the ear
and concurrence of our chief scientist. The goal is not
to restructure anything that already exists. The IR&D facility
will have to be a new facility completely off the campus
so that we can have 18/7 access and no security issues. Further,
the facility has to be available to ANYONE who demonstrates
the ability and willingness to use it effectively. This might
include WSU students, even some high school students.
I've already got corporate support from companies outside
Hawker-Beech and it will probably go forward with or without
them. But without a doubt it will go forward faster and
to the benefit of more folks if H-B participates. Starting
it up fresh means their only commitment is for cash and
mentorship. We get unhooked from a whole raft of bureaucratic,
organizational and regulatory issues by moving it off the
H-B campus.
The interesting thing about this approach is that
it steps on nobody's toes and demands nothing from anyone.
The beneficiaries of this activity will participate
voluntarily and on their own time. The "new" activity
is a threat to nobody's kingdom and is not subject to
plant politics. The cost is so low that few bean
counters will take notice either. My chief scientist
could sign a chit to commit $50K a year with nobody's
permission needed.
You're right, trying to do this from within the organization
offers lots of windmills to get tangled up in. But now
that we've shifted to an outside facility it all gets
much simpler . . . and more hopeful.
Bob . . .
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